Nuclear Power Deserves a Level Playing Field

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 08/18/16

Dr. Motta opines that in a course I teach at Penn State, we discuss the characteristics of an ideal electricity production portfolio for the U.S. and consider what form of energy policy would best achieve it. The class typically identifies the most important factors as cost, reliability of supply, public safety and environmental impact. Students also cite other characteristics, such as national security, domestic availability of fuels and technologies, and electric grid stability. Because no real-world energy source fulfills all of these characteristics, we have to make compromises to find an optimal combination of energy sources. Ideally, a well-designed national energy policy would give us a framework for making these choices by balancing short-term goals, such as cost, against long-term goals, such as environmental protection. However, there really is no coherent long-term energy policy in the U.S. What exists instead is an ad hoc hodgepodge of subsidies, taxes and regulations differing across regions of the country, that, along with the free market, end up determining what energy sources are used for the production of electricity. In particular, we have no carbon tax to penalize carbon-emitting technologies. As a result, long-term goals are often neglected. Under this ad hoc approach we currently reward some sources, such as renewables, for providing carbon-free electricity, but not others, such as hydro and nuclear power. In my view this is wrongheaded and inconsistent. The U.S. would do better by following the example of New York, which recently decided to support nuclear power plants to keep them from closing because of competition from cheap natural gas. In the past decade U.S. domestic natural gas production has increased by 50%. Natural gas, which emits half as much carbon dioxide as coal when burned, is replacing coal for electricity generation. However, natural gas is still a carbon-emitting technology and contributes to climate change. Read on ..